The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys
John Haldon and Robin Cormack

Oxford Handbooks

Comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the entire field of Byzantine Studies
Written by an international team of leading experts
Surveys history, literary genres, theological issues, and material culture
Provides the tools for understanding the discipline
Part of the prestigious Oxford Handbooks series

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys
John Haldon and Robin Cormack

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies presents discussions by leading experts on all significant aspects of this diverse and fast-growing field. Byzantine Studies deals with the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the Late Roman Empire, from the fourth to the fourteenth century. Its centre was the city formerly known as Byzantium, refounded as Constantinople in 324 CE, the present-day Istanbul. Under its emperors, patriarchs, and all-pervasive bureaucracy Byzantium developed a distinctive society: Greek in language, Roman in legal system, and Christian in religion. Byzantium's impact in the European Middle Ages is hard to over-estimate, as a bulwark against invaders, as a meeting-point for trade from Asia and the Mediterranean, as a guardian of the classical literary and artistic heritage, and as a creator of its own magnificent artistic style.

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys
John Haldon and Robin Cormack

Oxford Handbooks

I. The Discipline
1:Byzantine Studies as an academic discipline, Elizabeth Jeffreys, Robin Cormack & John Haldon
2:Instrumenta: tools for the study of the discipline
Primary sources, John Haldon
Chronology and dating, Anthony Bryer
Weights and measures, Chris Entwistle
Archaeology, James Crow
Critical approaches to art history, Leslie Brubaker
Iconography, Kathleen Corrigan
Literary criticism, Panagiotis Agapitos
Textual criticism, Michael Jeffreys
Lexicography and electronic textual resources, Erich Trapp
Palaeography, codicology, diplomatic, Hickey Todd
Documents: imperial chrysobulls, Andreas Muller
Documents: Athos, Rosemary Morris
Documents: Venetian Crete, Sally McKee
Epigraphy, Cyril Mango
Sigillography, John Nesbitt
Numismatics, Eurydike Georganteli
Prosopography, Dion Smythe
Dendrochronology, Peter Kuniholm
Brickstamps, Jonathan Bardill
Topography of Constantinople, Cecily Hennessy
II. The Physical World: Landscape, Land Use and the Environment
1:The political geography of the Byzantine world
Geographical survey, Mark Whittow
Political-historical survey, Geoffrey Greatrex, John Haldon, Catherine Holmes & Angeliki Laiou
2:Communications (roads, bridges, etc.), Klaus Belke
3:Population, demography and disease, Dionysios Stathakopoulos
4:Settlement
Towns and cities, Helen Saradi
Villages, Alan Harvey
5:Buildings and their decoration
Building materials, Jonathan Bardill
Churches and monasteries, Robert Ousterhout
Secular and military buildings, Charalambos Bakirtzis
Wallpaintings and mosaics, Robin Cormack
6:Production, manufacture and technology
Agriculture and agricultural technology, Michael Decker
Fabrics and clothing, Maria Parani
Silk production, David Jacoby
Ceramics, Pamela Armstrong
Metal work, Marlia Mango
Ivory, steatite, enamel, and glass, Antony Cutler
Book production, John Lowden
Military technology and warfare, John Haldon
Shipping and seafaring, John Pryor
Everyday technologies, Michael Decker
III. Institutions and Relationships
1:Hierarchies
Emperor and court, Jeffrey Featherstone
Bureaucracy and aristocracies, Jean-Claude Cheynet
Clergy, monks, and laity, Mary Cunningham
2:The State
Structures and administration, John Haldon
Army, John Haldon
Revenues and expenditure, Wolfram Brandes & John Haldon
3:The Church
Structures and administration, Michael Angold and Michael Whitby
Councils, Clarence Gallagher
The Two Churches, Clarence Gallagher
Liturgy, Robert Taft
Monasticism and monasteries, John McGuckin
Charitable institutions, Timothy Miller
4:The economy, Alan Harvey
5:Society
Role of women, Liz James
Families and kinship, Ruth Macrides
Patronage and retinues, Gunther Prinzing
Food, wine, and feasting, Anthony Bryer
Entertainment, theatre and hippodrome, Charlotte Roueche
Hospitals and hygiene, Peregrine Hordern
6:Justice: legal literature, Bernard Stolte
7:The spiritual world
Byzantine theology, Andrew Louth
Philosophies, Dominic O'Meara & Katerina Hieradiakonou
8:The symbolic world
Art and text, Henry Maguire
Art and liturgy, Nancy Sevcenko
Art and pilgrimage, Jas Elsner
Art and iconoclasm, Robin Cormack
Icons, Maria Vassilaki
Art and the periphery, Antony Eastmond
9:Language, education and literacy
Language, Geoffrey Horrocks
Education, Athanasios Markopoulos
Literacy, Michael Jeffreys
Numeracy and science, Anne Tihon
Libraries, Nigel Wilson
10:Literature
Rhetoric, Elizabeth Jeffreys
Historiography, Michael Whitby & Michael Angold
Theology, Andrew Louth
Hagiography, Alice-Mary Talbot
Homilies, Mary Cunningham
Epistolography, Margaret Mullett
Poetry and romances, Wolfram Horander
Military texts, Eric McGeer
11:Music, Alexander Lingas
IV. The World around Byzantium
1:Byzantium and its neighbours, James Howard-Johnston
2:Byzantium's role in world history, Cyril Mango
Lists of rulers, patriarchs, and popes

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys
John Haldon and Robin Cormack

Oxford Handbooks

Author Information

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys, Emeritus Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature, Oxford University, and Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College with

John Haldon, Professor of Byzantine History, Princeton University, and Robin Cormack, Professor Emeritus, History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London and Honorary Professor in the History of Classical Art, University of Nottingham

Contributors:

Panagiotis Agapitos, University of Cyprus
Michael Angold, University of Edinburgh
Pamela Armstrong, University of Oxford
Charalambos Bakirtzis, Aristotle University of Thessalonike
Jonathan Bardill
Klaus Belke, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Byzanzforschung, Vienna
Wolfram Brandes, Max Planck Institut für Europäische Rechtgeschichte, Frankfurt am Main
Leslie Brubaker, University of Birmingham
Anthony A. M. Bryer, University of Birmingham
Jean-Claude Cheynet, Centre d'histoire et de civilisation de Byzance, College de France, Paris
Robin Cormack, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Kathleen Corrigan, Dartmouth College, Hanover
James Crow, University of Edinburgh
Mary B. Cunningham, The University of Nottingham
Anthony Cutler, The Pennsylvania State University
Michael Decker, University of South Florida
Antony Eastmond, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Jas Elsner, University of Oxford
C. Entwistle, British Museum
J. M. Featherstone, CNRS, Paris
Clarence Gallagher, SJ, Campion Hall, Oxford
Eurydike Georganteli, Barber Insitute of Fine Art and University of Birmingham
John Haldon, Princeton University
Alan Harvey, Northumbria University
Cecily Hennessy, Christie's Education, London
T. M. Hickey, University of California, Berkeley
Catherine Holmes, University of Oxford
Wolfram Hörander, Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik, University of Vienna
Peregrine Horden, Royal Holloway University of London
Geoffrey Horrocks, University of Cambridge
James Howard-Johnston, University of Oxford
Katerina Ierodiakonou, University of Athens
David Jacoby, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Liz James, University of Sussex
Elizabeth Jeffreys, University of Oxford
Michael Jeffreys, University of Sydney
Peter I. Kuniholm, Cornell University
Angeliki E. Laiou, Harvard University and the Academy of Athens
Alexander Lingas, City University, London
Andrew Louth, Durham University
John Lowden, Courtauld Insitute of Art, London
Ruth Macrides, University of Birmingham
Henry Maguire, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Cyril Mango, University of Oxford
Marlia Mundell Mango, University of Oxford
Athanasios Markopoulos, Athens University
Eric McGeer, St Clement's School, Toronto
John McGuckin, Columbia University
Sally McKee, University of California-Davis
Timothy S. Miller, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland
Rosemary Morris, University of York
Andreas E. Müller, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Munich
Margaret Mullett, Queen's University, Belfast
John W. Nesbitt, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Washington, DC
Dominic J. O'Meara, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Robert G. Ousterhout, University of Pennsylvania
Maria G. Parani, University of Cyprus
Günther Prinzing, University of Mainz
John H. Pryor, University of Sydney
Charlotte Roueché, King's College London
Helen G. Saradi, University of Patras, Greece
Nancy P. Sevcenko
Dion Smythe, Queen's University, Belfast
Dionysios Stathakopoulos, King's College London
Bernard H. Stolte, University of Groningen and the Royal Dutch Institute at Rome
Robert Taft, SJ, Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Rome
Alice-Mary Talbot, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Washington, DC
Erich Trapp, University of Bonn
Maria Vassilaki, University of Thessaly
Michael Whitby, University of Warwick
Mark Whittow, University of Oxford
Nigel Wilson, University of Oxford

The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies

Edited by Elizabeth Jeffreys
John Haldon and Robin Cormack

Oxford Handbooks

Reviews and Awards

"It is written in a style that provides a first port of call for any undergraduate or novice analysing the perios, while supplying enough detail to keep experienced scholars stimlated" - Rosetta

"This book will fulfil its primary function very well and serve as an excellent introduction to Byzantine history and culture both for the novice who requires a broad overview of developments and for the expert in one or more areas who wishes to expand his or her knowledge into others"

"it is a magnificent work which will be an invaluable help to all students of Byzantium. In times of crisis, this compliment is worth more than before - the handbook is worth every penny (or cent)spent on it." - Przemyslaw Marciniak, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies is a useful, one volume reference work that would well serve both the scholar and general reader with an interest in Byzantine culture." - John Courteas, Acton Institute PowerBlog

"the book has been carefully edited. It is to be recommended as a well-informed and wide coverage of the present state of Byzantine studies, which students and anyone interested in the lost civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire should have in their library" - Cécile Morrisson, CNRS, Paris and Dumbarton Oaks